The Best Films/Movies in My Lifetime, Part 1 (69-78)

Revisiting an earlier concept but with movies instead of music, here is the first of four lists detailing the best films released in my lifetime. I will try to make a choice for best film (stuff that gets a Criterion release) and best movie (stuff that gets shown on Saturday afternoons on TNT). Anyway, here it is:

1969
The choice for best film comes down to two revisionist Westerns, a genre that was all cutting edge back then. I slightly prefer the long, bloody, depressing The Wild Bunch over the long, bloody and depressing Once Upon a Time in the West. Perhaps more blood would have placed Paint Your Wagon in their company.

Academy Award nominations or not, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid falls on the movie category and would be a fine choice were it not for The Italian Job, which featured absolutely ridiculous car chases and Michael Caine when he was as cool as Newman and Redford combined.

1970
The best motion picture of the year was clearly M*A*S*H, which neatly straddles the line between popular entertainment and art. Robert Altman or not, I think it is basically a movie, since it has an extended (and beautifully filmed) football sequence.

That leaves the best film of the year title to Five Easy Pieces, a somber meditation on Jack Nicholson's inability to get some fucking wholewheat toast. Who can't sympathize with that?

Honorable mention to the stunning Woodstock documentary. If it wasn't for all the filthy hippies, it could have been the best film of the year.

1971
The French Connection had fantastic car chases, random police brutatlity and the smooth villainy of Fernando Rey. It's definitely great, but only the last point differentiates it from Dirty Harry and Dirty Harry is not a film. So best movie it is.

I go back and forth on A Clockwork Orange. One of my problems with Kubrick is evident in this movie: it could have been thirty minutes shorter. Regardless, Malcom McDowell delivers an insanely committed performance and the themes are still relevant, so best film of 1971 it is.

1972
This was a strong year with films as diverse and entertaining as Cabaret, Deliverance and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie being released. But in spite of Joel Grey's brilliance, Ned Beatty's unfortunate encounters and Luis Bunuel's satirical wackiness, the best film of the year was easily The Godfather. There is no point in making a film/movie distinction either as it is both a meditation on the difficulty of escaping a life of crime and a movie that gets referenced as "One" without further explanation in The Sopranos.

1973
Few big-budget movies are as much fun as The Sting, the best movie of 1973. SPOILER ALERT: Neman and Redford get away with it. Other notables include The Exorcist, American Graffiti and The Wicker Man.

While Mean Streets features the most realistic bar fight ever filmed and La Grande Bouffe is European decadence at its finest, High Plains Drifter is just about the weirdest mainstream Western ever. I've never thought of the phrase "paint the town red" the same way again.

1974
Because "One" lacked good actors, they added DeNiro for "Two." So yes, Godfather II is the best movie of 1974. I mean, I like The Longest Yard and all, but really.

I left out best film from the previous paragraph so I could name the shoestring-budgeted, non-linear, utterly-confusing F for Fake as the best film of 1974. Why? Degree of difficulty. Orson Welles made a still-resonant essay about the nature of truth for practically no money while still leaving himself time to gorge on French food and wine. He was awesome.

But then I noticed Chinatown was also released that year. Sorry, fatty, I have to go with the fugitive guy.

1975
Our best film for 1975 is One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest over Dog Day Afternoon. I'm pretty sure those were the two last great performances by Nicholson and Pacino as they slowly started morphing into the cartoonish hams we so enjoy today.

While Jaws was exciting and Tommy was delightfully unhinged, the most prophetic (and enjoyable) movie of 1975 was Rollerball. "Jonathan! Jonathan! Jonathan!"

1976
While Rocky inexplicably won Best Picture, the best film of the year was easily Taxi Driver over Network. Frankly we're so far past the point of Network being relevant, it's not even funny.

Rocky is a good enough choice for best movie, because laughable as the series became, the original actually felt plausible. Also the main competitors are cheesy horror crap like Carrie and The Omen.

1977
This year saw the first of many releases of a high-grossing nerdfest that still plagues us today. I don't get the appeal, really. Why do people obssess so much about Close Encounters?

Anyway, while Desperate Living is John Waters' best 70s movie, it's not quite up to the standards of Slapshot, a movie that captures the decade better than any documentary could. And it also has Oglethorpe.

The best film of 1977 is That Obscure Object of Desire, featuring Fernando Rey, two actresses playing the same role and random terrorist bombings. That, right there, is an art film.

1978
While Animal House is still quite funny, at least when Belushi is onscreen, it bears a lot of responsibility for all the retarded comedies we see today. So the best movie of the 1978 is Dawn of the Dead. If you're going to satirize consumer culture, you might as well be really unsubtle about it.

The best film of the year was directed by Michael Cimino. This is notable because I am very unlikely to type those words again in this series. The Deer Hunter proves that a stellar cast (DeNiro! Walken! Cazale! Streep!) and the least subtle metaphor for America's involvement in Vietnam can offset an interminable wedding scene and endless shots of rural scenery.

Next time: the '80s, and a debate on whether Better off Dead is a film or a movie.